Giving God Your Idols

Giving up the very thing that means the most to us. Laying all our dreams and desires down at the feet of our precious Savior. How noble it seems, and how far we think we have gone to honor Him!

But are we laying a precious treasure at His feet?

Or an idol?

Idols are anything in our lives that we love more than God. Our initial reaction to a statement like that is repulsion. Of course we would never love anything more than God!! Right?

But sometimes idols hide well. Sometimes they really are gifts from God that the devil has used to sidetrack us. Our idols might be a person, a job, a habit, or even our dreams for the future. But whatever they are, they keep us from loving our King first and keeping Him on the throne of our hearts. Idol worship in the Bible was often symbolized as spiritual adultery. Leaving our first love for something or someone else.

Of course, we would never call it an idol. It isn't that we worship that dream or the person or situation. But we just can't imagine our lives without it. We will do anything for God........ As long as that one thing is still in our lives.

Idols are hard to identify sometimes but they are even harder to get rid of. We think that by telling God that He can do whatever He wants in our life, even taking that one thing from us, that we are offering our best to God.

But God wants nothing to do with our idols. Instead of a sweet sacrifice of love, we are offering Him our own rejection of His person! What a terrible thought! We are telling God that because we hold this thing to be more important than Him, we will give it to Him to show our love. How confusing!

It's like slapping someone in the face and then telling them it was a gift because of how much you love them.

God does not appreciate us giving Him our idols. In fact, He hates them. They take many different shapes and sizes but they are all the same. They steal our heart, our time, our energy and our dreams away from our Heavenly King. They turn our focus away from His dear face.

In order to love Him first, we must tear down the idols of our hearts, and turn our eyes back to our loving Savior. Just like in Judges, the very godly kings took down the high places and cut down the groves, so we must completely cleanse our lives of everything that reminds us of that idol. God can only pour Himself into an empty vessel, He only wants to use a clean one.

I want to encourage you to search your heart and ask God to show you any idols that you may have. Be sincere, and honest before the Lord. Be 100% willing to turn away from anything that is stealing your heart. Put no qualifications on God's will for you. Love Him first and give Him everything, and He will shine His miraculous power through your life.

Make today count!
Always,
Amanda

*cringe*

*peeks around the corner to see if anyone is watching her*

*gulps*

*steps out from the long-time shadows*

Voila! I am back! Lol, I'm sure you are wondering where in the world I went. And I'm not going to give you the same old excuse that every college student keeps under their hat about being insanely busy. Sure, its true, but who really wants to here that AGAIN!?!?! So yah, let's just say I have a life and this hasn't been a huge part of it lately.

So what to actually tell you.... There really isn't a whole lot of news that is well..... newsy! I'm not in a relationship, and NO I don't want to be, and NO there is not anyone that I'm interested in. So there, now that we've got everyone's biggest question answered we can move on to more important things.

Like........... umm.......... yah............ well...................

Wow. My life is so busy and yet its boring? Certainly not. God is working in amazing ways on this campus, and this is certainly (and more certainly than ever) where God wants me. Its so amazing every day in chapel because I've never been so convicted by every single message that I hear. In the past, not every message I heard would move me, and in my heart I kind of made fun of those who went forward or applied every message to their life. But I know now how wrong I was to think that way. Every time the Lord speaks through any of the godly men who speak here, it is exactly what He knows I need to work on, and it is something He has specially prepared for me to hear.

Isn't it amazing how God can speak to everyone at the same time, and yet it is exactly what each one needs to hear? Isn't He an Amazing God we serve?

And He is soooooooooooooooooo good to me and in reality, to everyone and in everything. He is in control of every part of our lives, and it is our mistakes or unhappiness with His plan that cause problems in our lives. One thing that He has really been convicting my heart about lately is the fact that I need to be thankful in all things.

Thanksgiving was not too long ago, and I had a really nice time with my family. It was fun and a huge blessing just to spend time and gain wisdom from my uncle and aunt. But it taught me something more. God places things in our lives that we see as bad things, or as trials, as something going wrong. However, He has prepared each one specially for us, and knows that that trial will bring us to Himself. When we come to the end of ourselves, we find Him waiting with open arms and willing to help us whenever we ask.

And He is always there. He never forsakes us.... Isn't that incredible? We can know that no matter what we are going through, and no matter what He has brought in our lives, we are being better prepared for Heaven someday, and to serve Him here on this earth now.

God is so good, and a close walk with Him is truly the sweetest thing on earth. A Christian's heart should and will suffer when he loses fellowship with His Savior. Our God is everything we need, and oh, how much we forget that, and how often we try to do things our way.

So yes, my life has been busy, but through it all, my God is there, and He is taking me through whatever He has for me. I am content to walk with Him, and truly, more than content, because for me it is a privilege to serve the King who loves me and gave His Son for me.

I hope that through the busyness of the Christmas season, you still walk in step with your Lord. He takes the time to love you and guide your life, but any relationship will die if it is only one-sided.

Give God the glory and thanks for everything in your life, even what may seem like bad things. And always, live life on purpose. It isn't an accident that we are here. :)

Make today count!
Always,
~ Amanda ♥

Those times when its hard...

Ever had one of those times when your Bible reading just wasn't what it aught to be? Oh sure, you kept up with it and you read, even maybe a lot. But you weren't really learning anything and God wasn't really speaking to you in a tangible way.


Hard times. I know. Happens to me too. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the world who has this problem. 


But know whose fault it is that I'm not getting anything out of my devotions? Oh sure, I like blaming the fact that I'm busy or that other people keep interrupting me, or that I'm sleepy....... there's any number of excuses that I could use. But when it comes right down to it, its no one's fault but my own. 


Honestly! 
God is always there for me, and He's always waiting to talk to me. He loves me, and always wants to be with me. Am I treasuring that special time with Him the way I should, or has it become old hat or even dry and boring? Do I need a spiritual revitalization? Is my walk with God fresh and new each day?


I'm going to end with a story that kind of "hit" me not terribly long ago with the fact that God is always waiting for me.


A man was convicted about the fact that he needed to spend more time with his God every day. He decided to set aside a special time and place where he would meet the Lord. Every day he went there, and every time, he found his God waiting to spend that precious time together. But the man got busier, and soon he started to skip a day every now and then. And slowly but surely, it became less of a priority until he dropped it all together. For several weeks he simply did not take the time to meet his God. 
Until finally, he heard a message that convicted him again. He returned to the same place as he had before and as he walked in the door, he found the Lord waiting for him. He blushed in shame and timidly asked the Lord how often He had been coming. And He replied, "I was here, every day, waiting for you."


God is always there, and He always cares to spend time with us. Is that important enough for you?


Make today count! Its all you're guaranteed.
Always,
~ Amanda ♥